California ranked as the toughest state in the nation for first-time home buyers, who typically would be in the millennial age bracket of 18 to 34, according to a recent report by Claes Bell, an analyst with Bankrate.com. The easiest states for first-time home buyers were Iowa and Utah, Bell found. In California, people are going to be earning more than the average state, but because the houses are just that much more expensive, affordability becomes a real problem. I did a five-year average of unemployment in each state and, among folks 25 to 34 in California, the average unemployment rate was 7.7%. Also, a lot of local municipalities have first-time home buyer-assistance programs, and people should look at those programs in their area.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 26, 2017 10:02 UTC